#and maybe. maybe laios just goes. well. why not get married

[lokh]

Honestly I think its mad funny that in the Shuro/Laios au Laios’ Party think it was HIS idea. Like wait till they find out this was from Shuro like that Laios’ proximity chart about to be a family staple passed down from generation to generation, lovingly given to his fiancee.

AJABSBDBXBX 😭😭😭😭 all trust in shuro absolutely fucking lost like how could they ever have thought he was a Reasonable guy... in his defense maizuru is the one that came up with it and he's a pushover and couldn't put a stop to it fast enough. i feel like it would definitely make him more likeable to marcille tho lmao, like 1) no longer attempting to court falin but also 2) Ah, so you too have been influenced by laios....

[nicandragon]

Okay here's a cheesy ending after all of my enjoyment of suffering 🫡

Laios likes to cook his own supper, when he can. He likes feeding Kabru, as well, making up for the times he made him eat stuff he didn't like.

Maybe. Something like that. The more days that go by, the more Laios notices the way he's looking at Kabru, the joy he takes in taking care of him, the way his heart sings when Kabru loves something he's made.

Kabru never joins him in his cooking. This is fine—maybe even preferable—as the downtime gives Laios some space to relax after a long day, something he's been getting more and more grateful for the more that their friendship seems to unravel.

So, as is the way of the universe, Kabru chooses to join him out of the blue.

Laios is, nonetheless, hardly unhappy to see him, even if the way he says hello makes his heart jump up in his throat. He has him come in and see what he's cooking, bashfully watching Kabru pull himself to sit up on the counter as he explains how he's experimenting with how he's cooked this dish before.

"Can I have a taste? Or do I have to wait?" Kabru asks, tapping over his pocket to ensure that the letter is still there even before broaching that topic.

Laios stirs the pot a little bit before deciding. "You can taste just the sauce—it's tomato-based though, so I think you'll like it." He gathers a small amount into his ladle, blows on it, then lifts it to Kabru's lips. Kabru's hand brushes over his as he hold the spoon, too, to stabilize it as he takes his portion.

Kabru closes his eyes and hums, playfully savoring the flavor, before finally swallowing it down with a smile. "Hot."

Laios' face goes a little pink. "...Yeah. That'd be the extra spices."

He reaches out to wipe a bit from the corner of Kabru's lip.

"It looks like I might be getting married," Kabru blurts out.

Laios freezes, hand still curled around his cheek. Kabru pulls the letter out just enough for it to peek out from his pocket. "She wants to discuss if it might be a possibility within the year, even."

"...Oh." Laios' face morphs from severe to pitiful to severe again.

"She wants to join me here, for the record," Kabru hastily adds. "She'd join our court, not I hers. I won't be going anywhere, my king."

"I don't want you to marry her."

Kabru...blinks. Something cracks inside of him. But, fine, whatever. It's business. He can talk about that. "I suppose I did want to return to discussing that. You did seem to have some intentions with who I might wish to marry—is that what you're referring to?"

"I—did I?—no, I just..." Laios drops his ladle back into the pot to cover his face. "Not...'your king', but me, Laios. I just...I don't want you marrying her. But...but I don't have a say in that, anyways, I'm just being horrible."

Kabru's patience is being tested. He was finally going to get himself a goddamn break, and Laios challenges him here, too? "...Okay, but I value your opinion. Laios' opinion. Why not? Did she do something to you?"

"...Not really. We barely spoke. She seems lovely, I think." He hasn't really paid attention to her. He doesn't even remember her name or the color of her hair, and only vaguely certain that she's a tallman.

"Okay...and I presume you're not jealous, then." To Kabru's shock, Laios' face turns entirely scarlet. He kind of has to laugh; his shot-in-the-dark guess feels too ridiculous. "What do you mean, you're jealous? You barely even spoke, and don't seem to have much of an opinion on her. You're a much more level-headed person than that—"

"I'm really not," Laios says, though sadness bleeds through his voice over anything else. "I...I..."

"God, Laios, I'm sorry, I shouldn't make fun of you, I'm just..." There's no possible explanation for the whirlwind of emotions that wouldn't kill Kabru to give. He's blessedly distracted by Laios' blush giving way to a more sickly hue—

—a crumbling, queasy look that starts to betray an outcome Kabru didn't believe possible.

"You're...not going to vomit again, are you?"

"I kind of want to?" Laios shakily reaches for the ladle, but accidentally knocks it into the pot instead. He nearly sticks his hand straight into the simmering pot, but draws his hand back with a hiss. "I...I should...go, maybe."

Kabru's voice quivers. "I...request that you not do what you 'should'."

Laios throws his hands into the air, finally betraying a bit more of the anger inside. "I'm not going to do any better than I have been like this, though! I'm not running away forever, I just need a minute!"

And yet he stands still, obeying Kabru, his legs feeling too heavy. And as Kabru steps closer, Laios' eyes truly are dilated as they get stuck on him; his blush permeates down his neck and over his clavicle; and he almost seems to jump to alertness when Kabru begins to speak.

How did Kabru, of all people, miss all of this?

"I think we need to start from the top," Kabru says, "because I've been throwing myself into this to stop thinking about you. Would you...truly like me to stop my plans?"

Laios' mouth drops open to works around various words—noises that sound more like he's choking than anything close to speaking—before he licks his lips nervously. "Yes. I would."

"I feel like...you owe me a lot of explanations." But right now isn't the time for that; neither of them know what they're doing. For the time being, they're just nervous creatures, seeking the warmth that radiates off the other's body as they draw closer.

And closer.

Kabru lifts himself onto his tiptoes and gently kisses his cheek. He tilts his head, brushing his lips down to the corner of Laios'. "But, that can wait...how are you feeling now..?"

Laios' hand wraps around the back of Kabru's neck to pull him in so greedily against his lips. There's a bit of sauce that he'd missed wiping away still on Kabru's lip, and then it's burning lightly on Laios' tongue; and Kabru's legs give way so easily that before his brain even registers that he's kissing Laios, he's been lifted up and pressed back against the counter, knocking over a bowl of fruit.

Laios' hand glides over his thigh, and Kabru nearly asks him to slow down—but then he feels the letter sliding out from his pocket. The sweet perfume its decorated with barely adds the slightest note to the delicious aroma of Laios' cooking.

"Is it bad that I want to destroy this..." Laios sighs. "Ah—I won't, really."

"Thank you. She is very kind." Kabru laughs a little at the pout Laios gives—maybe it's just because Laios has painted the image on himself, but sometimes, he really does look an awful lot like a big dog. "And you're very cute, you know that?"

"Oh...um, you are, too," Laios stumbles. Kabru kisses him again, and takes the letter back; Laios keeps his hand occupied by holding his face lovingly instead. "You're...I don't know that I deserve anything with you, but..." He frowns, and sighs, and gives up entirely on the sentence. "I guess I should feed you, at least."

Predictable; Kabru's chest burns so hot. He holds Laios' hand to follow him back to the cooking pot and, while his love hems and haws over how to recover the ladle from drowning in the sauce, Kabru throws the letter into the flame.

As far as Labru arranged marriage concepts go, generally it's always Kabru helping set Laios up to be married, which makes sense and is very fun.

However I'm bored today so. Consider the reverse with me.

Laios takes on a little pet project trying to figure out how to pull strings to get Kabru wed to someone he would be happy with. He starts thinking about it after Kabru complains a bit about how, even though they're working to make their own court function more equally, Kabru still gets looked down upon a lot. Milsiril's name and Laios' approval can only get him so far (especially in non-elf or -tallman circles). And two things Laios DOES know pretty well is 1) Kabru has interest in expanding his personal work beyond just Melini, and 2) family and marriage can facilitate these connections further.

But he Struggles because he tries to collect information (since he's definitely naïve enough to still think that attraction and compatibility are still top priority for a political marriage) directly from Kabru. When asking Kabru about his thoughts on a future spouse, Kabru beats around the bush a lot, or assumes Laios is working on figuring out his Own plans for his betrothal, and starts giving him advice, instead. When Laios asks about families with connections he wishes he could have, naturally the most enviable of positions are taken by corrupt people Kabru has great distaste for.

Eventually Laios asks directly if Kabru would ever be interested in a marriage that is only for political gain. Kabru tells him that such a thing isn't really as bad as it sounds for a king; Laios responds that he isn't asking about himself, he's asking about Kabru.

And the thing is. Kabru wouldn't even know. He'd probably shrug and say, "Well, sure, I've always kind of expected that type of thing to happen." And the thing is, he never really expected to get far enough in life to reach the point of having to consider this, nor did he think, in their current set-up, that his domestic life would ever be used as a bargaining chip.

Laios asks again, then, if it's something that he wants. And Kabru still isn't sure. So he just tells him that, depending on the arrangement, it may interest him; however, in terms of family, he's far more interested in preventing the suffering of children in the world than having any of his own for now, so he wouldn't want that on the table yet.

This answer doesn't really satisfy Laios, so he tables his project for the time being. He wanted to make Kabru excited, not uncomfortable. Meanwhile, Kabru keeps turning the idea of it over and over again in his mind, picking at it like a scab every sleepless night. His feelings for Laios start bleeding out. He's known that they are beyond platonic, deep down, but shoved those aspects down as much as possible; after all, voicing his desire to be friends already felt so terribly selfish. How could he go through that a second time?

And then. Kabru realizes that no, wait, actually—if he can be married, then maybe that'll be enough to kill his feelings. Maybe it'll keep Laios out of his head; at the very least, it'll keep Kabru otherwise occupied in more intimate moments...if not, at least it will lift Laios' spirits.

He keeps picking at the scab, figuring that it'll stop bleeding eventually.

And perhaps he meets an incredible candidate at an event—someone who he genuinely feels like he gets along with well, who has similar intentions, etc., and starts to grow more hopeful. He flirts, he dances, he laughs with all of the momentary lightness that comes with trying to discard all of your illogical emotions like it's a spring cleaning.

And perhaps Laios witnesses some of this interaction, and perhaps Kabru whispers to him some of his hopes. And Laios' own feelings, still unidentified to him, hit him hard. He's suddenly miserable, stuck in this social event in such heavy attire feeling completely and utterly alone.

Maybe he's just sad because he wanted to finally do something for Kabru by setting him up, he thinks. All of the other things he's done for him, like worrying over his physical health, always seem to annoy Kabru more than they do relieve him, even though they do him good. Maybe he just wanted to do something that would bring him sincere joy as thanks.

But Kabru's smile is, for the first time ever, pissing him off instead of warming his chest, so he refills his cup of wine and seeks his friends to distract him instead.